Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: MrBump on September 11, 2008, 02:55:55 PM
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Seriously. No conditions, no playing styles. What would win?
Mark.
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I daren't even try to answer that, it's too subjective.
There's probably some Schecter, Ibanez, LTD or Washburn which I'd never buy in a million years but is, nevertheless, fantastic value for money.
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I daren't even try to answer that, it's too subjective.
There's probably some Schecter, Ibanez, LTD or Washburn which I'd never buy in a million years but is, nevertheless, fantastic value for money.
Awwww, go on! That was kinda the point, to get loads of views and opinions that perhaps wouldn't necessarily come out (i.e. what's the best £500 guitar for a Slayer tribute band?)
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I take it we're talking brand new guitar here? No useds allowed :)
My vote would go to the Squier Classic Vibe 50s Telecaster. £280 at full retail price, £230 if you shop around. Stock pickups and electrics are perfectly good, and the whole guitar punches well above its weight. It's already routed for a neck humbucker, so that's a really easy mod if you so desire. And I do, hence the TV Jones Classic I have on order ;)
The Baja Tele was my other choice, but the thick neck, variable weight and higher price make it a bit more of a gamble to buy sight unseen.
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I take it we're talking brand new guitar here? No useds allowed :)
My vote would go to the Squier Classic Vibe 50s Telecaster. £280 at full retail price, £230 if you shop around. Stock pickups and electrics are perfectly good, and the whole guitar punches well above its weight. It's already routed for a neck humbucker, so that's a really easy mod if you so desire. And I do, hence the TV Jones Classic I have on order ;)
The Baja Tele was my other choice, but the thick neck, variable weight and higher price make it a bit more of a gamble to buy sight unseen.
Definitely new.
But your Squire gives a lot of change from a £500 note... Is it REALLY worth that???
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dang, the "no used" has got me. it depends on what you want, to be honest, and also £500 is kind of an in-between price bracket...
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(http://www.instrumentpro.com/fullsize/http://www.instrumentpro.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/ibammm1.jpg) really want one of these after trying one.....and on one site just dipped below £500
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A Highway 1 Strat or an SG Special.
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i'll controversially suggest the gibson faded series. i'm sure i'll be quickly shot down in flames, but i do think they're a bit of a deal.
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Awwww, go on! That was kinda the point, to get loads of views and opinions that perhaps wouldn't necessarily come out (i.e. what's the best £500 guitar for a Slayer tribute band?)
OK, the best new, sub-£500 guitars I've ever bought are my Japanese Epiphone Les Paul Juniors and Les Paul Special, which cost me under £400 each and I love them to bits. They're not flawlessly built or anything, they just work.
I had a look at a US reissue Jr and the Billie Joe Armstrong signature and they weren't a patch on my Epi.
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i'll controversially suggest the gibson faded series. i'm sure i'll be quickly shot down in flames, but i do think they're a bit of a deal.
Do you mean this?
http://www.coda-music.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=10&products_id=243&oscsid=bbe675cfa9145e4fab4d92772e1ea415 (http://www.coda-music.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=10&products_id=243&oscsid=bbe675cfa9145e4fab4d92772e1ea415)
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yes, for example. theres a few out including, Vs, SGs and Les Paul studios
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A used Carvin. You can usually get them on ebay for under £500.
Fender Mexican Vintage Re-issues are pretty damn good too. I love the feel of the '62 Strat mexi reissue.
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I think the Gibson faded series is overpriced. A good Ibanez RG/S Series or LTD will be way better, i got my LTD EC-1000 for £400 including hard case and postage, i think they retails for 750-800 quid.
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I think the Gibson faded series is overpriced. A good Ibanez RG/S Series or LTD will be way better, i got my LTD EC-1000 for £400 including hard case and postage, i think they retails for 750-800 quid.
i knew someone would step in ;)
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What about Hagstrom? I've heard good things about them...
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My vote goes to a MIJ Tokai LP. You can still get them for a smidge under £500 new.
http://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/guitars-1/electric-guitars-2/tokai-love-rock-ls75-electric-guitar-black-568.html
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Anything from Schecter. I think they all come around £500 - The loomis is £600 last time I checked.
I'd love to get a new BC Rich Gunslinger though - Never played one.
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Is £550 allowed? (Come on, it must be - when I say to the missus, I'm going up town to look at de geetars, my limit is £500, she knows that I'll spend between £400 and £600 :lol:)
If so, a Japanese Tokai Love Rock, or a Fender Japan non-export something (I've got a strat, and tried a tele for that price), depending on your taste... Nothing's come close to those for me.
If £550 is too much, then I'd be going a bit lower to the Mexican Fenders - but I'd want to play every single one until I found the right one :D
The Baja is very nice, but I'm not sure I'd say it's "the best". For me it was an initial "oh wow!" followed by bemusement, and then eventually it becomes an acquired taste - I play it more than the Love Rock and the Strat now. But the Love Rock's the best put together of the lot of them (including the somewhat more expensive Gibson Explorer :roll:) if I was a died-in-the wool LP man, that would be the one.
EDIT: Ah Hamfist agrees - in fact, mine looks just like that :D but cost more (after beating them down £40) :(
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Is £550 allowed?
The problem with allowing an extra fifty quid is that I'll do EXACTLY that if and when I come to buy.
And 50 will turn to 100. And 100 will turn to 200. And 200 will turn to divorce...
You get the picture?
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Is £550 allowed?
The problem with allowing an extra fifty quid is that I'll do EXACTLY that if and when I come to buy.
And 50 will turn to 100. And 100 will turn to 200. And 200 will turn to divorce...
You get the picture?
Sigh... I do indeed :lol:
But seeing as Hamfist found one for under £500 - Tokai Love Rock (Japanese) :D
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I think a schecter or Epi (something similar) for 310 and spend the rest on BKP'ing it. cant go wrong!
Or do you mean £500 straight up no tweaks!
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An Edwards Les Paul!
Best I've played around that price.
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But your Squire gives a lot of change from a £500 note... Is it REALLY worth that???
Yes. SERIOUSLY nice guitar. Ask anyone who's played one. :)
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assuming the £500 is slightly flexible, i'd go with japanese copies too- edwards, tokai, etc. :)
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Some very nice choices of guitars but im a southpaw. A real challenge for you under £500 and left handed :x :x
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The answer is incredibly simple - Yamaha Pacifica 812V: http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/yamaha-pacifica-812v/13078
Thank you and goodnight. :wink:
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There are some very nice LAG guitars for under £500, if you can locate a dealer that is. The RM200 is now around the £300 mark and is very versatile and well constructed with coil slplittable EMG HZ pickups. I have one and it rocks!!! There was a model called the RF200 which was same spec but with a maple top, but I think its discontinued. There may still be some around. That or a Maverick F1, which are really hard to find. My main guitar is a PRS SE singlecut with BKPs and was just over £500 when you include the replacement pickup surrounds and burnt chrome covers. Good luck with finding your dream guitar though, there are so many nice axes at that price point.
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I agree with Twinfan. The CV tele is the bomb. It really is that good.
And for 500 quid you could buy two of them!
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I'd guess Edwards, Greco, Orville etc if you're after gibson style guitars. I still quite like my Epiphone but it feels dead and stiff compared to my Pearl MIJ LP after I got a setup on that!
My Charvel Model 1C was good for the £190 or so I paid for it as well, shame it sounded so fizzy otherwise I would've probably kept it - had a really nice neck. I may buy another Charvel in the future if I can find a normal strat-style one with pickguard and strat headstock.
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Never seen/played one but also heard great things about the Squier via a mate who works in a guitar shop.
Spear guitars get good VFM write ups.
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My main guitar is one of my cheapest! Dean Vendetta 4.0, I really can't fault it and it cost me £310. I actually bought it as a drop D guitar and loved it so much it became my No 1. Even the stock pickups are OK, but now that I've sorted out my finances (finally) I'm hoping to put some Cold Sweats in in the new year.
I'm thinking quite seriously about getting a Dean Hardtail Select as well for stuff that needs a more vintage-y vibe, and the new Soltero standard looks pretty sweet.
I'm also tempted by the Epiphone Prophecy Les Paul Custom. Fast neck, ebony board, real Dirty Fingers pickups, all for under £400 seems really promising.
The Slash signature BC Rich Mockingbird is tasty too, and you really can't go wrong with the Ibanez's in that range.
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OK, so I was just browsing Hagstrom, and I came across this:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYceIxqC4w0&feature=related (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYceIxqC4w0&feature=related)
Cracking clip!
Mark.
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They are pretty...keep meaning to try one but nearest is in Halifax and he has the swedes for under £400 or one in vid http://www.guitar.co.uk/guitars/electric/2189-hagstrom_ultra_swede_electric_guitar (http://www.guitar.co.uk/guitars/electric/2189-hagstrom_ultra_swede_electric_guitar)
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My favs are either ESP/LTD eclipses, PRS SEs or Fender Highway Ones.
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What kinda worried me a little is that I get the distinct impression that for the BIG American names (and by that I mean Gibson, Fender and PRS), a lot of the money goes on the brand.
Don't get me wrong, I've played all three, and some have been amazing. I'm certainly not into bashing someone for their success, 'cos that's like Communism or something... But the idea of this thread was to open it up a little and get away from the traditional big three. Which is why Eastern brands such as Ibanez and Yamaha are interesting - I get the impression that the USA legacy doesn't apply, and that you may be paying for the guitar rather than the brand.
I may be hugely wrong about that though.
Eastern manufacture doesn't bother me - I've seen Chinese guitars that are superbly constructed. And of all the Telecasters that played recently in TPA, it was the Mexican 60's reissue that left all the others (includig the "North" American built models) for dead, in terms of its playability and sound.
So I guess that the £500 thing is more about value than anything else - it's an arbitrary figure - could have been 400, could have been 600. And as someone pointed out, factor in a set of Mules and pretty much any LP clone is going to kick some serious arse. But I want the best value guitar - that could be a £2000 PRS, or it could be the Squire that everyone raves on about.
Personally I think that I'm leaning towards a Swede with Mules... Or possibly drive to Croydon and go through Jonathans bins for some cast offs...
Mark.
-EDIT- "Ibanez" is a horrible word to type! And I'm a good typest!!!
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What kinda worried me a little is that I get the distinct impression that for the BIG American names (and by that I mean Gibson, Fender and PRS), a lot of the money goes on the brand.
Well, yes and no. I still find it pretty remarkable that you can get a Faded SG or V for less than £500.
(And yes, I know we'll now get the standard "all non custom shop Gibsons are shite" response.... :roll: )
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What kinda worried me a little is that I get the distinct impression that for the BIG American names (and by that I mean Gibson, Fender and PRS), a lot of the money goes on the brand.
Well, yes and no. I still find it pretty remarkable that you can get a Faded SG or V for less than £500.
(And yes, I know we'll now get the standard "all non custom shop Gibsons are shitee" response.... :roll: )
Actually, that's a good point - but also makes me worry, because I guess I don't really understand hpw Gibson can produce a cracking American built SG at such a great price point, and yet you'll pay a grand and a half for a factory build LP...
The SG's that I've played have been superb guitars. But I think that they're unfashionable. LPs are cool. Therefore they cost more. And I don't want to be a part of that, if you see what I mean.
Mark.
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LPs are cool. Therefore they cost more.
Yeah and they sound better. ;)
It's true that many production model Gibsons are poorly made but it's far from all of them. You can find great ones among the bunch, also in the sub-£500 range.
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I usually find the simpler the Gibson, the more chance you have of finding a great guitar e.g. SG, Junior, Special etc. They seem to screw up when it comes to neck bindings, maple tops, fancy woods and inlays etc.
I only own two Gibsons now, both slab bodied LP Specials. Great guitars that cost me £450 (used) and £650 (new).
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I played one of these recently and was very impressed.
Ibanez ARX500. £425 most places.
(http://www.guitar-village.co.uk/admin/pages/upload/Ibanez/08/Ibanez_ARX500AMB.jpg)
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I played one of these recently and was very impressed.
Ibanez ARX500. £425 most places.
It's pretty, but I don't know why they don't stick with the original Artist design, which was perfect.
(Apart from the weight. :wink: )
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I played one of these recently and was very impressed.
Ibanez ARX500. £425 most places.
It's pretty, but I don't know why they don't stick with the original Artist design, which was perfect.
(Apart from the weight. :wink: )
Quite possibly it was indeed 'modernised' due to the weight of the originals.
It's not as nice to play as an original but for the money it felt rather good. If Ibanez had went down the route that Yamaha took with the repro SG series guitars, the guitar would be around the £1300-1500 mark :?
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I played one of these recently and was very impressed.
Ibanez ARX500. £425 most places.
It's pretty, but I don't know why they don't stick with the original Artist design, which was perfect.
(Apart from the weight. :wink: )
I could be wrong, but I think that they still design and make the "original" - I've seen something like it on their site, which is retailing for over a grand.
Love it, by the way. I think it's a cracking looking guitar, and would definitely be on my play list.
Mark.
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Yeah, there is a reissue AR300, pretty much the same as the 80s model, only available in one colour.
But I think they should use it as the basis of a whole range at different price points, like they did then. To me the ARX is a much less attractive shape, even though it's similar. But maybe they've market-researched it and there's no interest.
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It's a bit of a stretch, but Jackson COW 7 is around 500 pounds, and it's damn nice guitar. PDT_001
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What about my Ibanez SZ2020?
It is yours for £500!
:lol: